Posted by Gracie2 on October 16, 2002, at 0:11:38
In reply to P.S. to Re: blocked for 4 weeks, posted by Disillusioned on September 19, 2002, at 23:45:31
The energy and enthusiasm you're expending to defend the freedom of speech of yourself or other posters would be useful and gratifying if aimed at purposeful causes - like government misspending, abortion, the death penalty, nuclear arms, pollution, the bombing of Iraq, etc.
To attack the creator of a website for imposing rules on that website which prevent the posters
from becoming a cyber "mob" is unproductive. Insisting on civility keeps the board from disintegrating into the kind of unhosted chat-room
ruled by profane mouth-breathers. I've been posting on PB for years and know that a definite attraction to the site is its atmosphere of understanding and support; that others have experienced your own trials and have insight. Criticizing and demeaning another posters
detracts from this feeling of acceptance and threatens the quality of the site. If one poster is allowed to get away with extreme rudeness, other posters with follow, and many other posters
will-in a good-natured way-follow with a flurry of their own posts, attempting to put out brush-fires. The end result is implosion.I feel strongly about this because of a personal experience. A couple of years ago, a poster on PB lamented about the experiences of a certain judge in New York who was sentenced to a prison term for stalking a wealthy socialite who had dumped him after a torrid affair. I was familiar with the case and had read the book written by this judge on his experience. I found the book to be self-serving and this judge to be unremorseful for the terror he had inflicted on his mistress and her children, and uncaring about the pain and shame that his wife had endured. I thought the guy was a jerk, and I said so.
Somehow the advocate - who was posting so strongly for this judge on PB - discovered my e-mail address and started sending me letters that
I interpreted as threatning. I don't remember the exact language, but he talked about it being "my time" to face the "real judge", and how I would pay for my misgivings.The upshot of this ordeal is that one can never know if any poster still has a spinning wheel, but the hamster is dead.
PB was created by Dr. Bob from hard work and creativity, for reasons that I'm still not sure of.In our society, it's difficult to imagine a person operating purely for reasons of scientific
knowledge, even harder to imagine a person working only for the good of mankind. We're bombarded with images like the philandering Jim and his disgusting wife Tammy Faye, a symbol of our generation shot down in flames.
Still, it's unhealthy and unreasonable to look for plots and Communists and suppression in the monitering of a website. You should be rushing off to a pyschiatrist instead of a lawyer. Pick your battles and get a life.
-Gracie
poster:Gracie2
thread:7554
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/admin/20020918/msgs/7697.html